Scott Ferguson – Death Of The Diggers 2 review

Over the years Scott Ferguson has released a steady stream of deep house records with a distinct lack of pomp and ceremony, earning him the respect of the underground music community. In addition to a host of 12″s under his own name, there’s been a couple of superb collaborations with soulful crooner Marvin Belton; if you haven’t heard “The Letter” before we recommend you check it out pronto.

Ferguson has spoken of the importance of Detroit’s proud lineage of deep house producers on his own musical upbringing, and he has certainly taken a leaf out of the Parrish and Dixon Jnr school of production by squeezing every last ounce of emotion out of his machines, and here he returns to the production fold with a Death Of The Diggers 2, a disco-flecked EP that retains the deepness and soul anything associated with his Ferrispark imprint demands.

The first Death Of The Diggers 12″, first released in 2003, contained an impressive trio of sample-based, jazzy house and the follow-up opens with “Merano Disco”, a track characterised by an immeasurably pleasing vocal plucked from a West End classic, marking it out as the EP’s most instantly accessible tune. A toe tapping low slung bassline and funkafied guitar riff keep the groove in check, giving it a live, jammy feel. This shares the A Side with “Flying Trapeze Disco”, which sees haunting strings and raw drums combining to cinematic effect.

The flipside is furnished with “SF Estilo Disco”, a slow-jam chugger with sliced up male/female vocal grunts and a burning, hazy synth melody, and the subaqueous squelch of “Sole Disco”, which sees the unmistakable vocal of Kenny Dixon Jnr come to the fore, with the Detroit producer’s legendary croaky voice sampled from a recent interview. Once again Ferguson provides quality with minimum fuss, leaving the pretenders trailing in his wake.

Aaron Coultate